Friday November 13th 2015
by Raptor Gil
Summary: A story about the tragic events that occurred on this day.


" _Breaking news: at 21:20 CET yesterday, four suicide bombings and mass shootings occurred in six locations across the city of Paris France."_

Arthur looked up from his spellbook and turned toward the radio.

" _The highest casualties were at the Bataclan theatre, where the attackers took hostages and engaged the police until early this morning. The attacks killed 130 people and injured more than 300."_

Arthur's tea cup shattered on the floor as Arthur stared in horror at the radio.

" _The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIL, claimed responsibility for the attacks. French president Francois Hollande has said that this was "an act of war" by the Islamic State, planned in Syria and organized in Belgium. . ."_

Arthur collapsed on the ground, still in shock.

The phone rang. He answered it numbly.

"Hello?"

"Um, England? I- it's Belgium. Look, I just want you to know that I- I'm sorry about France."

Arthur blinked. "It wasn't your fault," _it was the fault of the Islamic State. Whom you happen to be hosting in your country!_ Arthur suddenly found his emotions. "Look, thank you ever so much for calling, but I have to go."

"England, wai-"

"Goodbye."

Arthur slammed the phone back to its resting place and started sobbing. He slid to the floor, his head in his hands.

"Gone," he sobbed, "he's gone. F-Francis, h-he. . ." Arthur started crying in earnest. "W-why?! Bloody hell, why him?!" Arthur hugged himself, trying to make the pain go away.

The phone rang again and Arthur looked at the caller ID. He picked up the phone.

"Go the fuck away you bloody wanker."

"Artie, dude, I heard about Francis. I'm really sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Hang up." There was scuffling in the background. It sounded like Alfred was arguing with himself.

"Arthur," it sounded like Alfred, but quieter, calmer. "I heard what happened to papa."

"Hello Matthew," Arthur sighed. It wasn't a surprise that Matthew had gone to comfort his brother and as a result, Arthur himself.

"Arthur, listen, I know you may not want to talk to anyone right now. I get it. That's fine. But don't just abandon Francis. He needs you right now," Arthur blinked and rubbed at his reddened eyes. "Frankly, I think we all do. Francis, Alfred, me, we all need you to be strong, mama. Please, papa is waiting for you to come home. _Ne pas le faire attendre plus longtemps_ _1_." Matthew hung up and Arthur was left sitting there, thinking about what he'd said.

XxX

Francis was in pain, he knew that much.

He opened his eyes. Everything was blurry.

Everything hurt. It felt like he had broken half the bones in his body, and fractured the rest. His head pounded; his body felt feverish; he just wanted to sleep. He wanted to just go to sleep and forget the pain.

 _Arthur, mon amour, je suis désolé. Je me sens tellement fatigué_ _2_ _._ Francis closed his eyes but was immediately attacked by the mental image of the last time he'd seen his Arthur crying.

 _Non! Je ne peux pas, pas encore, je ne peux pas le laisser pleurer. Pas encore. Je lui ai promis. . ._ _3_

Francis tried to get up, but collapsed, panting as the pain became too much. He tried again, and again collapsed, crying out in pain as he coughed up blood.

But he had to get up.

He had to see his Arthur again, but he couldn't move without his body spasming in pain.

He had to see him, one last time, or he'd never be able to forgive himself for causing his little Angleterre so much pain. He had to, or. . .

A scuffling sound above him caused dust to rain from the ceiling of. . . Wherever he was. The rubble shifted and he winced as sunlight streamed in through the crack.

He groaned.

Excited shouting.

Someone was pulling him into the sunlight.

Francis blacked out.

XxX

Francis awoke to something warm squeezing the circulation out of his hand.

He opened his eyes and squinted around the room.

It was white, clean, and there was an incessant beeping that filled the air. It was obvious he was in a hospital.

He looked over at his hand, only to see a mess of dirty blonde hair. Francis smiled.

" _Angleterre_ ," Arthur stirred slightly. " _Mon ange, se réveiller_ _4_."

Arthur opened his eyes and blinked, looking at Francis for a second before his eyes started watering. Arthur turned away, letting go of Francis' hand.

"Yeah, dude, and then I'm all like, "dude, that was totally my shake!" Anyway, long story short. . ." Alfred and Matthew walked into the room carrying four coffees.

Matthew promptly shoved the two he was carrying into Alfred's hands and ran to Francis, hugging him and crying into his shoulder.

" _Papa, ne nous fait pas peur comme ça. Déjà. S'il vous plaît_ _5_ _."_

"Hey, are you guys seeing this?" Alfred had put the coffee on a table and switched on the television. There was some news story about an earthquake and Japan or something, and then it switched back to the devastation of France's capital, Paris.

WvW

There was something wrong with Kiku. He was just laying there, sleeping.

Heracles wouldn't usually worry, it was good to sleep. But then, Kiku never slept later than nine, and it was well past 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

"Kiku," Heracles laid his hand gently on the Asian man's shoulder. There was no reaction.

Heracles' eyebrows furrowed. Kiku was normally a light sleeper. Had something happened in Japan to make Kiku become so still and unresponsive?

"Kiku," Heracles' voice shook with worry as Kiku remained unresponsive, save for a solitary tear that rolled down his cheek and dripped onto his pillow.

"Kiku, wake up!" Heracles felt Kiku's forehead; it was unusually cold, like he'd been dunked in ice-cold water.

Kiku suddenly sat up, his eyes flying open and his chest heaving. His eyes were watering and he looked panicked, like he was trapped somewhere and couldn't get out, like he was slowly suffocating.

Heracles reached forward and wrapped Kiku in his arms, hugging him against his chest, whispering words of comfort into Kiku's hair.

Kiku shivered and whimpered, clutching at Heracles' shirt, trying to feel at least a little bit protected. Then the tears started and wouldn't stop, no matter how much Heracles wanted them to; it hurt him to see Kiku in such distress.

"Kiku, are you alright?"

Kiku shook his head and leaned into Heracles' chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Heracles smoothed Kiku's hair and brushed it out of his face.

Kiku took a shuddering breath and started talking.

"Do you remember the earthquake and forrowing tsunami that devastated my islands in 2011?"

Heracles nodded, carding his fingers through Kiku's hair, a calming gesture that Kiku greatly appreciated. Kiku took another deep breath.

"At 5:30 AM, my time, an earthquake that registered 7.0 on the richter scale occurred off the coast of Nakanoshima, causing a smarr tsunami, only about 30 cm tarr. I was just remembering the travesty of 2011. I am arright now, thank you Heracres-san."

* * *

 _1_ _Do not make him wait any longer._

 _2_ _Arthur, my love, I'm so sorry. I feel so tired._

 _3_ _No! I cannot. Not yet, I cannot let him cry. I promised him. . ._

 _4_ _My angel, wake up._

 _5_ _Papa, don't ever scare us like that again. Ever. Please._

 _As for the thing with the 'r's, it's part of Kiku's accent. I know full well that there are 'l's somewhere in there._

* * *

 **As most of you know, a week ago, ISIS (ISIL) attacked Paris, France. This is my way of acknowledging that the damage caused by these attacks will never go away, just like the damage of 9/11 still hasn't gone away here.**

 **What some of you may not know, it that the same day, a 7.0 earthquake and a tsunami (tidal wave) occurred off the coast of Japan. No one was hurt according to BBC, but I have read some things about 18 thousand people being missing. I'm still not sure which is the truth, so I decided to write as if no-one was hurt.**

 **Another thing: Lebanon was bombed as well. I know that ISIL has been targeting Lebanon for awhile now, but my sister was there a couple months ago. If I had known the unstable state the country was in, I wouldn't have let her go.**

 **I also have a message for anyone out there who's listening: why is there so much war in the world? Think about this.**

 **Please, share this message with as many people as you can.**

 **Thank you.**


End file.
